title: Interpersonal violence presentations to general practitioners in Western Australia: implications for rural and community health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the incidence of interpersonal violence presentations to general practitioners (GPs).
  
  
  METHODS
  A postal survey of all GPs in Western Australia (WA) was conducted in 2009 using a structured questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the n=476 respondents (response rate 28%), 379 GPs treated 9572 patients for a violent incident during the past year. The rate of violent presentations in rural WA was double that of metropolitan areas (incident rate ratio (IRR) 1.9, 95% CI 1.8-2.0), whereas the rate of violent episodes in remote GP practices was 7-fold higher (IRR 7.2, 95% CI 6.8-7.6). Halls Creek in remote northern WA was found to be a 'hot spot' with a high cluster of violence cases, whereas metropolitan suburbs surrounding Perth had relatively low concentrations of violence presentations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further understanding of the size and nature of the problem is required in view of the low response rate. High-risk groups, such as women and those living in rural and remote areas, should be targeted for special attention.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, GPO Box U 1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. l.meuleners@curtin.edu.au
authors.forename: Lynn B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Meuleners
authors.forename: Andy H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jianhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hendrie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population; D014754:Violence / Q000639:trends*; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology